NC Primaries: Runoff edition

Action Alert, North Carolinians!

The NC Senate Democratic runoff election is going on NOW - the last day to vote at a one-stop location is Saturday. You can find your one-stop early voting site here. Else, you'll have to vote next Tuesday, June 22nd.

This one's easy, just one race, two candidates: Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham.

As usual, I voted absentee, by mail. See below for the Cara Politica endorsement, then get to the polls!

Primaries 2010: Progressives Win Big Edition

There's so much talk flying around about last night's primaries that I would be remiss if I didn't add my $0.02.

The main theme of the headlines is "Establishment loses big," "Dem and GOP Incumbents Go Down." This is true, but I agree with what Cenk Uygur (commentator on The Young Turks, a spectacular progressive internet talk show) says: the establishment lost, but Progressives won. Who cares about losses by "Establishment" Democratic candidates who are so far from progressive, it's hard to even claim them as Dems? Their losses are a win for the party. It seems to me that Democrats are working to use their voice as a party and are willing to fire candidates who aren't representing the party's values and goals, and from where I'm standing, that's a very good sign.

On to the results roundup:

Pretend-Democrat Arlen Specter is out in Pennsylvania, replaced by Joe Sestak. Anti-Progressive "Democrat" Blanche Lincoln faces a runoff in Arkansas, and the AFL-CIO, for one, says the runoff will not be a problem for challenger Bill Halter. Back to Pennsylvania, where Democrats will hold on to the late Representative John Murtha's seat, won by Mark Critz in a special election last night.

Not quite the "Republican Sweep" that the GOP had talked up, eh? Well, a sweep maybe, but not in the direction they had hoped.

And finally, in a follow-up to the NC primaries and now runoff, third-place candidate Ken Lewis is endorsing Elaine Marshall. This is great for the Marshall campaign, as Lewis brings a nice chunk of votes from the Triangle area. The main focus of the Marshall campaign should now, I think, be getting out the vote on June 22 so that we can defeat Burr soundly.

And by the way, my favorite place to track polling, primary results, and general elections-specific news is the Swing State Project. Check out their post about yesterday's primaries for more detailed results and analysis, but if you're not into that sort of thing, no worries. You can always check back here for more quick and dirty distilled politics.

Misery & Co.

Apparently we live in a world in which the Huffington Post has its very own Real Misery Index. It measures Americans' relative economic woe at any given point in time using unemployment numbers, housing prices, inflation rates for essentials, credit card lateness stats, and some other stuff.

The latest from the Index shows that economic misery is still increasing, mostly due to unemployment and UNDERemployment (people being forced by job scarcity to work fewer hours than they need to or at a lower salary level than they are qualified for). However, the stock market is steadily climbing its way up, leading most media sources to report a slow-but-sure end to the recession. What these numbers suggest, however, is the end of the recession for some in certain sectors while others stay miserable, poor, and jobless. HuffPo calls this effect a "two-tier economy" which is decidedly NOT a good thing.

This handy graphic illustrates the situation. The red line is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, climbing, climbing up. A good thing, if you're an investor or a CEO. The blue line is the Real Misery Index, also climbing, climbing (except last December, when we got a bit of a break). A bad thing, if you're most of America. (The Real Misery Index is better, ie less miserable, when lower.)



As the NC legislature comes back into session, I can only hope that they (and lawmakers around the country) do not abandon job-creation and stabilization efforts just because some measures of economic well-being are up. A job seeker myself, I can speak to the lack of well-paying jobs in the metro area of the Triangle. I can only imagine what rural NC is like for un- and underemployed folks right now. We've got to keep the pressure on for reform and support for everyone, not just the top tier.

Primaries 2010: Early Voting and Senate Endorsement

I had the pleasure this past weekend of voting in my hometown, I mean physically IN town, for the very first time. I've had to vote absentee since I turned 18 and went to college, so actually getting to walk into a polling place and use the touch screens to vote in the Democratic primaries was exciting. Getting the sticker for once was great, too.

I was really happy at the number of people who were voting early in my small hometown. It was the first Saturday of NC One-Stop Voting, and while there was no waiting, there were about 7 people voting when I was, and 4 more were coming in as I left. The woman signing people in said there had been a steady flow all day. Not bad for a county of 37,000.

The candidate I was most excited to vote for, by far, was Elaine Marshall for U.S. Senate. She's currently running in the Democratic primary to replace Richard Burr, who FireDogLake calls "the most endangered sitting Senate Republican" and who is, in my opinion, a terrible representative of NC's interests. He is pro-big business, anti-health reform, anti-choice, anti-immigrant...the list goes on.

As the current NC Secretary of State and former state senator, Elaine Marshall has a reputation for being fair, energetic, and down-to-earth. She has continued to run a strong campaign even after the national Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chose to endorse another candidate, Cal Cunningham, and after losing her husband late last year. She is committed to advocating for the just treatment of all Americans, and is strongly pro-woman and pro-civil rights, leading her to land an endorsement from one of my favorite bloggers and activists, Pam Spaulding at Pam's House Blend. It's exciting to see a North Carolina "purple state" candidate declare her opposition to the Defense of Marriage act and support of the Employee Non-Discrimination Act on her website. Further proof that we're moving in a good direction for civil rights for everyone.

I am adding my name to the long list of people who support Elaine Marshall. Please check out her website and get to know her. And most importantly, please vote! In NC, look here for a One-Stop Voting site, where you can register and vote all at once. Early voting continues through Saturday, May 1st and the primary is on May 4th!